Product Strategy | MIDiA Research

Spotify Q2 2021 earnings
Slowdown arrives

Cover image for Spotify Q2 2021 earnings

Mark Mulligan

August 2021

The growth headwinds that appeared in Q1 2021 manifested in a pronounced user growth slowdown in Q2, with ad-supported users hit hardest. Spotify has been through lean growth periods before, but what is...

Why Spotify’s creator strategy needs to pay more attention to fans

Kriss Thakrar

10 Aug 2021

Spotify

Streaming

Fandom

Spotify’s shift towards becoming an audio platform encompasses a push to become a creator-first business, with a vision of 50 million creators supplying content to a billion users. However, the company’s...

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The record labels are weaning themselves off their Spotify dependency

Mark Mulligan

6 Aug 2021

Spotify

Streaming

TikTok

The major labels had a spectacular streaming quarter, registering 33% growth on Q2 2020 to reach $3.1 billion. Spotify had a less impressive quarter, growing revenues by just 23%. After being the industry’s...

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Quick Take: The metaverse – expect goldrush by many, market domination by a few

Karol Severin

2 Aug 2021

metaverse

Games

Media and Marketing

After years of pioneering, tinkering and iteration, the concept of metaverses is moving closer to the mainstream in media and entertainment, in particular in games and social media, for example. In the...

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Unlocking mainstream AVOD
The silver streamer catalyst

Cover image for Unlocking mainstream AVOD

Tim Mulligan

July 2021

Subscriptions

Streaming

Video

Ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) has been championed as the free-to-access equivalent of subscription video on demand (SVOD). However, for AVOD to become the digital successor to free-to-view TV it...

Labels are going to become more like VCs than they probably want to be

Mark Mulligan

30 Jul 2021

record labels

labels

artist accelerators

When you are in the midst of change it can be hard to actually see it. Right now, the music business is undergoing a consumption paradigm shift that is changing the culture and business of music. Streaming...

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“First day, first show” – Premium video on demand’s potential in India

Srishti Das

26 Jul 2021

PVOD

TVOD

Bollywood

India is home to one of the world’s largest and most successful film industries. However, 2020 was rife with economic setbacks across the entertainment industry due to the pandemic. The film industry...

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What Steam Deck, Netflix, Zoom, Peloton and Pro Evolution Soccer tell us about the future of games distribution

Karol Severin

23 Jul 2021

distribution

content distribution

steam deck

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I had to take some time off in the last two weeks. It is never good to have to step away from the buzz of daily games industry developments, but the silver lining...

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On the cusp of an AVOD era – takeaways from the MIDiA AVOD webinar

Tim Mulligan

12 Jul 2021

AVOD

Streaming

AVOD Webinar

Last Wednesday’s MIDiA AVOD webinar was full of promise about ad-supported video on demand, and its ability to transition from its current niche user base into a mainstream video streaming proposition....

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Global music subscriber market shares Q1 2021

Mark Mulligan

9 Jul 2021

music subscribers

subscriber market shares

Streaming

The music industry’s growing obsession with declining ARPU will continue to colour the outlook for the global streaming market in revenue terms, but the positive driver of this equation is the rapid...

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Emerging markets may be about to change the superstar business

Mark Mulligan

2 Jul 2021

emerging markets

anglo repertoire

Music

The traditional recorded music business was all about selling units, which naturally meant that the most important markets were not the most populous but the wealthiest. Throughout the late 20thcentury...

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MIDiA Research 2021 – 2028 global music forecasts
ARPU growth finally delivers

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2021 – 2028 global music forecasts

Mark Mulligan

June 2021

revenue

Global

Music

This report presents the key figures, trends and drivers of MIDiA’s music forecast model. The figures presented in this report are both retail and label trade values and are in billions of US dollars...

How Bandcamp could really fix the music business

Mark Mulligan

25 Jun 2021

independent artists

artists

Streaming Music

“A thought: has streaming become the place to address consumers and the likes of Bandcamp the places to engage fans? i.e., fans and fandom inherently matter less on streaming because it/they are a minority.”...

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Pluto TV, Rakuten TV & XUMO to discuss how AVOD unlocks the mainstream consumer - July 7

Dara Jegede

23 Jun 2021

AVOD

advertising

Digital audiences

AVOD was well positioned to benefit from the uplift in home entertainment time due to lockdowns imposed to stem the spread COVID-19. However, engagement growth was modest in 2020, remaining below 10% for...

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The new chair of the FTC and antitrust 2.0

Tim Mulligan

22 Jun 2021

Anti-trust

Monopoly

Lina Khan

The appointment of Lina Khan on June 15th to chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is poised to be a transformational one in the history of the world wide web. Khan came to prominence with an article...

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The games industry has changed; E3 needs to do the same if it is to remain relevant

Karol Severin

21 Jun 2021

e3

conference

games industry

This year’s E3 has experienced mixed reviews, with the consensus largely being that some interesting announcements were made, but they no longer provide an all-encompassing view of what’s going on...

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The opportunity behind the Roblox lawsuit

Kriss Thakrar

14 Jun 2021

Roblox

music piracy

gaming

Three months ago, MIDiA reported on the role of the Boombox in Roblox and the potential of the unique (and unlicensed) behaviour that was emerging around it. Subsequently, the National Music Publishers...

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Games video creators can help attract new audiences to esports, if rights holders empower them to

Karol Severin

14 Jun 2021

esports

creators

live streaming

Those who have been following MIDiA’s games coverage for a while will have seen our posts about the growth problem of esports and suggestions around putting focus on the entertainment angle , rather...

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We’re Hiring (again)

Mark Mulligan

11 Jun 2021

Streaming Music

Music

Business Strategy

The pandemic rewrote the rules of digital entertainment, creating new opportunities and threats at an unprecedented rate while also intensifying competition for consumer attention. Never before has the...

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From network to Bulletin: Is this the future of Facebook?

Hanna Kahlert

10 Jun 2021

social media

substack

Facebook

Due to generational shifts, the passage of time, and pure competition from other entertainment alternatives, social media is changing . Younger users are flocking to fast-paced, original content-driven...

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